Bitcoin startup Luno has commissioned a new research study, which has found that South Africa’s interest in owning cryptocurrencies is increasing.
Research Findings
The research study was carried out by Kantar TNS, a leading market research company, and balanced samples across key demographics, including age, gender, income, geographical region, education level, domestic status, and class self-identification. The survey used computer-assisted web interviewing techniques.
The study discovered that over 80 percent of South African consumers saw cryptocurrencies as an investment class and are ready to hold it over the long-term. Despite that, 48 percent of the respondents said that a major concern was losing money when using cryptocurrencies due to problems like phishing scams, with another worry being the use of non-trusted exchanges.
Luno said, “Greater stability in the price of cryptocurrencies was only the third highest factor (39 percent), which influenced confidence in the new technology among South African respondents.”
Despite the quick rise of new altcoins, people widely know bitcoin, and this includes South Africa. Ethereum also closely follows this as a popular cryptocurrency choice.
Around one third (29 percent) of the respondents already own cryptocurrency and 53 percent are interested in buying digital coins. There was only 18 percent of those surveyed declaring zero interest in owning any crypto asset.
However, according to the research study , 83 percent of those who already own a cryptocurrency consider it an investment, with 23 percent using crypto for online transactions and an even lower 12 percent using it to transfer money to friends and family.
Safe Investments
Of the respondents, 40 percent agree that cryptocurrencies offer a safe investment option, with as many as 61 percent considering it profitable. Three-quarters of the South Africans surveyed would also like to use cryptocurrencies in a shop or online store.
Interestingly only 58 percent of South African women were familiar with cryptocurrencies verses the 80 percent of South African male respondents.
Cryptocurrency has become increasingly popular in South Africa over the last few years. The rise of bitcoin has even seen the South African Revenue Service (SARS) introduce cryptocurrency tax laws requiring South Africans to pay income and capital gains taxes. This is a positive sign that even the South African government is on board with the use of cryptocurrencies.
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